Urban Transportation Solutions: Paris’ Sustainable, Environmental, and Anti-Automobile ApproachBackground: Paris’ Mayor Betrand Delanoë’s solution to Paris’ traffic problem was to make driving in Paris more difficult. Parisians and their environment have both benefited from his seemingly counter-intuitive measures. Delanoë’s multifaceted approach have been fourfold: drastically reduce the price of residential parking to encourage residents to park their cars and leave them parked, create a bus/taxi/bike lane throughout the city in which cars are prohibited from traveling, initiate a community wellness program which closes all the roads along the Seine River to motorized traffic on Sundays, and most notably – commit the city to the largest bike-sharing program in the world to date.
France’s membership in the European Union obliges the country to respect emissions standards and remain within the accepted EU norms. France’s capital, Paris is charged with the responsibility of providing accessible, rapid, reliable, and affordable transportation for its citizens and for the millions of tourists who visit the city annually. Degradation of the aesthetic beauty of the city, as well as an overall concern for the heath of its constituents, have served as a catalyst for Paris to make a conscious effort to limit GHG emissions caused by excessive automobile usage. This past summer, the media and billboard marketing firm JCDecaux seized the business opportunity and plunged into the wave of environmental consciousness that has been sweeping over Europe by funding and perfecting a bike-sharing scheme. Vélib’ is what can be considered “individual public transportation” – a concept coined by sociologist Bruno Marzloff. By increasing the efficiency of mobility, Paris’ environmentally conscious transportation solutions have the potential to create a better balance between the city’s inhabitants and their environment.
Approach: Through descriptive research (interviews) and data analysis (traffic data, media coverage – articles, blogs, etc.), this graduate project will address the following: why is there a need for sustainable urban transport programs; the environmental and public health impact of remaining at the status quo; estimates on reductions in GHG’s and other pollutants and improvement of air quality; an overview of other sustainable transportation initiatives (Okigo – France’s car sharing concept run by Avis and VinciPark); a comprehensive exploration into how Vélib’ functions – how it works, how it got started, the history and improvement of other bike-sharing programs, how it was financed; the overall cost and benefits for the city and for the citizens; effectiveness as reliable transport. Finally this graduate project will address the interest and potential for adoption of similar programs in other places like Chicago, NYC and Boston.
Preliminary Sources:
Bruno Marzloff is the founder and CEO of MediaMundi / Groupe Chronos. He is a sociologist who specializes in market analysis of transportation and has previously completed research for such companies as SNCF – France’s national train system. He drafted for the Vélib’ business plan through extensive interviews and trend analysis.
NB: All primary sources (interviews, news articles, etc.) that are in French will be translated by the researcher herself. Extensive proofreading will be asked of other bilingual individuals.
